Walk into any store in LA and you will find thousands of products labeled “Gut Healthy.”
What exactly are probiotics and why is everyone willing to spend so much money on them?
Has the obsession with gut health become more prevalent due to social media or is there science behind these products?
Dr. Alice Madani at Cedars-Sinai explained that your gut affects many things in your body, the first one is your mood.
“The vagus nerve which starts in the brain stem and branches down to your gut connecting your gut to your brain and affecting your overall mood,” Madani said.
By caring and fueling your gut properly you are setting your mood up for success.
The second thing your gut targets is your energy levels.
“When you eat food it is digested by your gut then is absorbed into your bloodstream, then transported to all the cells in your body then broken down into energy,” Madani said.
Madani explained that your gut is like a garden in the sense that if you put nutrient-filled things in, its flowers will grow. But if you give your body unhealthy foods and toxins like alcohol and tobacco your flowers will die.
Luckily in Los Angeles, there is an abundance of fresh produce and probiotics. Some common foods that locals enjoy include yogurt, kombucha, and fermented foods, all of which are products sold with the impression of improving your gut. You have to do outside research before buying a product because not all work. One study found that 15 out of 29 products are labeled gut healthy or have probiotics.
When social media took off in the early 2000s, media platforms like YouTube and Instagram began promoting the idea of “clean eating.” These new platforms increased access to information allowing people to educate themselves on their overall health and get motivation to eat better. However, it also spread misinformation, and made people over-obsess with their health.
Often times, stores will have items labeled gut healthy or “with probiotics.” When a product is labeled gut healthy it is advertising that it will help with your digestion and overall gut function. If a product is labeled with probiotics it means there are live bacteria within the product to balance your gut. However, it is important to realize that most of the time, when products are labeled this way it is a marketing strategy designed for the buyer to believe that they are getting healthier by consuming the product.